Crown Paints awarded ISO 14001:2004
Environmental Certification
(from left)Crown Paints Management
Representative Jesse Agoi, CEO Rakesh
Rao and Director Hussein Ramji display
the ISO 14001 certificate alongside
Crown Paints Group Finance Director
Paul Mwati, which was awarded by
the Bureau Veritas Commercial and
Business Development Manager Amos
Orwa (far right).
Crown Paints was in August awarded
the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental
Certification by Bureau Veritas
International for its environmentally-
friendly methods of producing paint and
resin products.
The largest paint manufacturer in Kenya
has been recognized for putting in place
solvent recovery and effluent water
treatment plants. These have enabled the
company to minimise harmful impact of its
operations on the environment by ensuring
that there is zero discharge of effluent and
waste water is recycled.
Thus, Crown Paints joins a select
league of companies in the region that
have successfully implemented the
Environmental Management System
(EMS) in compliance with the International
Organisation for Standardisation (IOS)
framework. EMS is a management system
designed to help companies control the
environmental impact of their operations.
To be certified, firms have to undergo
a rigorous audit process conducted by
Bureau Veritas, the global body that
administers ISO 14001: 2004.
“We are delighted to be one of the few
companies in Kenya and the region that
have fulfilled the stringent standards
required to comply with ISO 14001:2004
in environmental protection,” said Crown
Paints CEO Rakesh Rao after receiving
the certificate from Amos Orwa the
Commercial and Business Development
Manager at Bureau Veritas Kenya office.
Orwa commended Crown Paints for
achieving the certification in a record three
months. “Crown Paints has demonstrated
its commitment to quality environmental,
health and safety management practices,”
said Orwa.
Once audit framework is agreed on,
companies set their own performance
targets. They are also expected to
comply with applicable legislation
on environmental protection and
management. The audit process by the
ISO is carried out in two stages, that
is, document preparation followed by
review. The implementation processes
is benchmarked against ISO framework
standards. Crown Paints, achieved
certification in a record three months.
Typically, organisations begin with the
ISO: 9001 certification which focuses on a
company’s quality management systems.
This is then followed by the ISO 14001
covering environmental management and
ultimately by OHSAS 18001 certification
on health and safety risks. Rao said that
Crown is gunning for the Occupational
Health and Safety Advisory Services
(OHSAS) 18001 as it continually improves
its environmental, health and safety
policies and processes.
“The current is to achieve OHSAS
18001 certification. Our staff have been
undergoing training on EMS related
courses such as risk assessment, health
and safety, air quality monitoring and noise
surveys. The continuous training ensures
that our employees are sensitised on
environmental, health and safety issues
concerns,” explained Rao. The first edition
of ISO: 14001 was published in 1996 as
the environmental management systems
standard. The voluntary participation of
Crown Paints validates its commitment to
ensuring its paint production processes
meet international standards.
Crown Paints also promotes the Kaizen
principles of striving for efficiency and
minimizing wastage. For instance, the
company has also put in place a fully
automated fire suppression system
comprised of fire hydrants and sprinklers.
This minimises negative impact on the
environment in case of a fire outbreak.
In addition, the company has introduced
a dust exhaust system which removes all
fumes generated during production.
